The authorities of Russia and Uzbekistan have agreed to localize the production of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in the republic, the Uzbek side has already selected a site for the production of the drug, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko told RIA Novosti on Friday.
Murashko is on a visit to Uzbekistan on Friday, where he met with President of the Republic Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
“We agreed on the localization of production of Sputnik V (in Uzbekistan – ed.) in the framework of the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and the President of Uzbekistan”, – Murashko said following the meeting.
The minister added that the Uzbek side has selected a production site for the production of the Russian vaccine, and the project is being developed.
The Uzbek authorities received the first batch of Sputnik V on April 23, and another on April 27.
Earlier, the Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov, at a meeting with his Russian counterpart Mikhail Mishustin in Kazan, asked Moscow to increase the supply of Sputnik V and consider the possibility of its production in the republic.
On April 1, a campaign to vaccinate the population against coronavirus was launched in Uzbekistan. Now Uzbeks also receive vaccinations with the AstraZeneca vaccine, a recombinant drug from the Chinese Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutica. More than 1.2 million people have already been vaccinated in the country.